“Neville, check the coat rack for Mortimer’s hat.”
“You told him to leave it upstairs.” Neville argued. “The guard said Mortimer left with his hat anyway.”
He was right, of course. Mrs. Dixon had explicitly said that Mortimer could not take his hat with him to the party and had told him to leave it upstairs as to prevent any sort of temptation upon seeing it throughout the night. And the guard at the shipyard had identified Mortimer by his hat.
nothad
But the boy had been mistaken. Mrs. Dixon met the butler’s eyes.
“What?” Mrs. Longhorn looked from one to the other.
“You’re not suggesting Lilly Lou stole Mortimer’s hat, are you?” Mr. Longhorn hit the nail on the head.
“Yes.” Mrs. Dixon’s mind raced. “Yes… I am.”
“But what would she want that dingy thing for?” Mrs. Longhorn was b
